Looky what I found...

It was so close to home, too. {smile}

The name's Koda...Ko-da.

Sadly, our 11 year old border collie, Bandit passed away a few weeks ago. I haven't cried that much in quite awhile. Such an awful feeling, losing a pet. 

Our house just isn't complete without a dog, and as luck would have it, a border collie breeder was just up the road with one pup left. Was that destiny, irony, coincidence? I'm not sure, but we welcomed Koda into our family. We needed his energy, his curiosity, his sweetness, his...puppiness. As my son quite correctly said, "He stole our hearts."

So watch for more posts on this little one. He's very smart, and has already discovered he can herd our cats. This is going to be interesting. 

Have a great week, everyone!

Say Cheese!

For lunch today, I had Baked Caprese Salad. Now, you may look at this and say "That's not salad." But just go with it...I think it's an Italian thing. The bread is just a big crouton, right? Riiiight....Anyway, this is what Giada De Laurentiis calls it and so am I. 

Photographing our food is so popular these days. We all do it. We go to a fancy restaurant, and when our flaming Baked Alaska comes we say "Hold on! Let me get my camera!" - while the waiter is suffering from third degree burns. 

I do think it's an art form and photog's like Catherine Murray at Photo Kitchen do it amazingly well. Catherine contributes regularly to Edible Columbus, and she was recently featured in one of my favorite blogs Design Sponge. Check out her portfolio here. Her garlic scapes are gorgeous. 

So, how did I do? Are you hungry? Good, because I've got baked alaska for dessert.

Just Peachy

Yes, peaches come in a can, but not in this house, not this year. 

My son and I LOVE peaches and since my blackberry jam turned out okay I thought I would try canning peaches for us to enjoy throughout the rest of the year. 

I saw a post on one of my favorite blogs about peaches here. For some reason this inspired me into craziness so I bought a half bushel of seconds for $13 at my local fruit farm. She said seconds are usually better for canning because they're cheaper and you can always cut around the worm holes (hope I got them all - wink). That's about 50 peaches. Yeah, 50. 

I think I must have been delirious...I mean, who am I kidding? Sure, the blackberries turned out okay, but I'm "not martha" (actual blog!) I needed help, and I needed it fast. So, I enlisted my Mom. All knowing, all seeing, experienced in all things canning...except Peaches. But we're smart girls, how difficult can it be? With peach pits flying, peach juice running down my arm and an occasional peach ninja (Dom) coming in to steal a bite, we didn't do too bad (no one lost a finger - always good). We filled (5) 1-quart jars and (7) 1-pint freezer bags. 

Now to find recipes for all of these peaches. Hmmm...peach schnapps, anyone?

{heart}

What I love:

Looking and truly seeing the beauty around me.

What I love more: 

When my children see it too.

Morning, Sunshine

I love these cool, sunny mornings. Anything seems possible. 
I feel I can get so many things done on mornings like this. 
But of course, I don't, because I'm overwhelmed by said possibilities.
So, I think I'll just enjoy the morning. 

Free Scone

I got a free scone yesterday! I was all ready to pay for it and I got the tap on the hand and a "Don't worry about." I was like..."What? No, really. Here, please take my money." A wink and a smile and she was off to the next customer. Amazing. I was elated! It wasn't really about the free scone, though, it was more about that singular, random act of kindness. The feeling it gave me was so wonderful. It made me...happy. 

{side note: That scone wasn't cheap. Or stale...it was delicious.}

Go make someone happy...